transcript
Tom Davis Graham Clark December 1995
Contents
Car Sharing Cooperatives: an Innovative Concept ............
2
A Car Share Ignition Program For Portland ...................
3
Ignition Program Elements ................................. 4
The CarShare Cascadia Philosophy .......................... 8
Appendix A: Six Elements of a Car Share Ignition Program ...
10
Cover Photograph: Some of Berlin, Germany_'s STAITAUTO ("Without
Cars") carsharing cooperative members enjoy the fruits of
membership (RAIN magazine, 1994)
INTRODUCING the COOPERATIVE VISION
When people and institutions pool resources, they transcend
individual limits. Urban civilization testifies that people can
create a richer life together that far surpasses what each could
accomplish alone. Creative innovations such as public private
partnerships and multi-media communication display the advantage of
synergy.
Likewise, when individuals and institutions pool existing mobility
resources, there emerges a dynamic innovation in how people can get
places. Where most persons can afford only one vehicle, and most
institutions can best offer just one service, pooled resources
allow a rich variety of affordable, convenient options and fosters
a flexible and efficient transportation system.
The cooperative vision goes beyond a car pool. Instead, it
represents a new way of viewing mobility. It transcends a certain
vehicle, like, for instance, a car. It promotes mobility in terms
of the travelers themselves'--modem, mobile, flexible, and
efficient individuals who, rather than tie down their resources
into a single private vehicle, instead enjoy a variety of mobility
options at their finger tips. For the cooperative traveler, a
virtual corporation emerges from the variety of agents of
mobility--taxis, transit, trains, planes, bicycles and automobiles.
Car sharers graduate to an advanced concept of modem mobility.
Instead of purchasing a vehicle, the cooperative traveler uses
cooperative mobility resources.
However, the cooperative vision goes beyond even shared mobility
resources. It promises fundamental improvement in community
relationships:
*Inexpensive, convenient, ecological options for travelers.
*Stronger, more equitable relationships between members of the
community. *Re-creation of community support networks for
individuals in society. *Democratic, member-owned organizations
that serve and reinvest locally. *Symbiotic relationships between
car sharing, transit, and other travel modes.
One shared vehicle replaces several private vehicles, eliminating
pollution, traffic, parking spaces, and environmentally damaging
factory production. Local mobility sharers act together to improve
the neighborhood and community. Whether out of a sense of
responsibility or for economic and practical reasons, the
cooperative concept of mobility makes sense.
To mobilize the cooperative vision, CarShare Cascadia Mobility
Consultants proposes a Car Share Ignition Program for Portland. Car
sharers enjoy the advantage of an equitable, modem, efficient,
cooperative lifestyle. Car sharers carry positive social,
economical, and ecological relationships. It is our objective to
help mobilize Portland's first car sharing organization.
A CarShare Ignition Program 1
The CAR SHARING COOPERATIVE: An Innovative Concept
You need wheels for ski vacations and for in town holiday shopping.
So you make that first down payment. Quite an investment! But even
as you drive your new car off the lot, it depreciates in value.
Over the years it rusts and develops a "personality". You are
responsible for all maintenance, cleaning, repair, permits,
payments, taxes, and fueling costs.
High initial costs give each incremental trip the appearance of
being free, once the gas is paid. You pay so much that you feel
obligated to drive your car. So you are stuck, literally spending
years of your life within that vehicle. But could you survive
without owning a car? Sadly, Americans without access to cars are
treated like second class citizens. There are times when boots,
buses and bicycles do not suffice. If only you could drive a car
when you needed it without the hassles of ownership. "Ownership?"
you ask yourself, "Do I own my car or does it own me?"
An easy alternative to ownership is the car sharing cooperative, in
which members pool transportation resources. The cooperative
purchases, maintains, cleans, repairs, and insures its resources,
including cars, bicycles, and transit options. Members can reserve
a car over the phone, and drive it from the neighborhood car share
lot. After the initial entrance fee, payment is only for length and
duration of vehicle use, billed monthly. The less the car sharer
drives, the less the car sharer pays.
Car sharers enjoy the advantage of having a choice of mobility
options: a variety of cars, pickups, and vans, for instance. Usage
rates are based on fuel economy and maintenance needs. Discounted
transit passes and co-op bicycles are available. In economic terms,
car coop members pay the marginal cost of each trip. Therefore, car
sharers have incentive to choose the most economical and ecological
means of getting around. In this way, car sharing exists as a
complement to strong transit systems within and between
cities.
Organized and owned by its members, the car co-op exists to serve
those members and the broader community, not for profit. A forum of
members makes purchasing, pricing, and policy decisions.
So free yourself from the costs, responsibilities, and limitations
of private auto ownership. Ride transit to work, with discounted
car co-op passes. Drive a compact car--or ride a bicycle-for
in-town errands. Haul your furniture and gardening soil in a
pickup. Drive a sport utility truck or crew van to the Mt. Hood ski
cabin for New Years'. Ride Amtrak to Seattle at a discount, and
drive away from the station in an affiliated co-op's vehicle.
Transcend a single vehicle existence to the new, modern
mobility.
A CarShare Ignition Program 2
A CARSHARE IGNITION PROGRAM for PORTLAND
The CarShare Ignition Program is a source of information and
inspiration to those interested in joining, creating, or supporting
car cooperatives in Portland and the Pacific Northwest. Grounded in
a thorough market and feasibility analysis, it will provide a local
start-up guide and help form a group of interested people.
The Car Share Ignition Program is composed of six major elements.
Listed below, each element is the building block for the
next:
1. Effective Communication and Cooperation 2. A Guide to Car
Sharing World-wide 3. A Survey of Local Conditions 4. A Network of
Car Sharers 5. A Start-up Action Guide 6. Effective
Presentation
To achieve its purpose, the Ignition Program depends on all of its
elements together. Once ignited, the Program could snowball and
eventually help mobilize a car co operative. At the very least,
Cascadia Mobility Consultants will provide one step forward to the
day when travelers enjoy improved, inexpensive mobility while
driving lightly on the earth.
A CarShare Ignition Program 3
IGNITION PROGRAM ELEMENTS: Their Objectives and Tasks.
(Please see the appendix for a more detailed work program
schedule.)
1. Effective Communication and Cooperation Objective:
Ensure an effective, efficient, and enjoyable effort that is
inclusive to the working members, is open to new ideas, and that
places relationships first.
Tasks: 1. Build a synergistic partnership. 2. Consult regularly
with the client Dr. Katzev. 3. Consult regularly with our advisors,
Drs. Howe and Ozawa. 4. Integrate with other Workshop project
groups. 5. Improve communication and presentation skills.
2. A Guide to Car Sharing World-wide Objectives:
Learn the lessons from co-operative transportation efforts around
the world. Create a resource guide for others wanting to learn
about car sharing cooperatives in order to ensure our work's
usefulness to further efforts.
Tasks: 1. Collect, review and abstract materials relevant to car
sharing. 2. Portray conditions that contribute to or characterize
car sharing. 3. Incorporate the materials into a widely and easily
accessible information
resource.
3. A Survey of Local Conditions Objectives:
Analyze the regional opportunities and constraints for the
formation of a car sharing cooperative organization. Compare local
conditions to regions where car sharing cooperatives have been
successful or have been attempted.
Tasks: 1. Systematically seek and capture information, advice, and
ideas. 2. Compare transportation alternatives in Portland. 3. Study
the experience of alternative organizations in Portland. 4. Analyze
Portland characteristics and compare them to car co-op
cities.
4. A Network of Car Sharers Objective:
Mobilize a network of people and organizations who show an interest
in car sharing.
Tasks: 1. Identify, contact, and survey likely car sharers. 2.
Create a common information, discussion and networking forum. 3.
Engage interested individuals in a proposal for start-up action. 4.
Organize a hard-core ignition group.
A CarShare Ignition Program 4
5. A Start-up Action Guide Objectives:
Draw a realistic route map toward the creation of a car sharing
organization. Assess the level of responsibility and commitment
that a start-up will take.
Tasks: 1. Identify the facets of a car cooperative organization. 2.
Create an ignition action plan for a car cooperative. 3. Engage
interested people as client-partners in the plan.
6. Effective Presentation Objective:
Garner awareness, interest, and support from the metropolitan
community. Tasks:
1. Incorporate the elements into media that attract support
(grants, etc.) 2. Engage Workshop classmates and others in several
workshop sessions. 3. Present the CarShare Ignition Program the
client, to workshop, to potential
allies and sources of support and to interested car share
advocates. Approach potential allies and supporters with the
idea.
A CarShare Ignition Program 5
The CLIENT
The principal client is an individual who has acted as a networker
and as a clearinghouse for information regarding car sharing
cooperatives around the world. He has maintained an informal
network of interested car sharing adherents in the region who have
expressed an interest in pursuing the creation of a Portland-based
car sharing cooperative. In a sense, these individuals may become
our partners as much as our clients. It is our goal to serve them
in taking steps toward the establislli.Jlent of a local car sharing
cooperative.
Primary Client: Dr. Richard Katzev, Public Policy Research
Secondary Clients: The aforementioned interested individuals
Regional and local agencies concerned with mobility
CarShare Cascadia serves individuals who are interested in
establishing and participating in an auto sharing cooperative.
Relationships will be based on partnership as much as on the
client-provider relationship.
A CarShare Ignition Program 6
The PARTNERS
About CarShare Cascadia CarShare Cascadia is a step toward the
beginnings of a mobility consulting industry. Mobility consultants
provide information and advice to individuals and organizations who
travel in the increasingly congested region of Cascadia.
CarShare Cascadia is a partnership dedicated to ecological,
efficient, affordable, and innovative ways of getting around. We
believe that such mobility options come to individuals through the
pooling of resources. Toward that end, CSC facilitates the rise of
car sharing organizations in the Portland metropolitan area.
Graham Clark's interest in planning is driven by his desire to
improve choices in the realm of transportation. His involvement in
transportation advocacy from the pedestrian, bicyclist, and transit
user's point of view gives him a strong base of knowledge from
which to evaluate the merits and shortcomings of transportation
proposals. He believes daily life in an urban area is conducive to
great freedom of movement while relying very little on
automobiles.
Graham is very interested in the quantification of demand and the
market feasibility sections of the project. He believes it is
important to ground the project in realistic numbers and forecasts.
He believes it is possible to increase peoples' choices, decrease
their costs, and improve social and environmental factors within
the city's transportation system, all through the minimizing of
autocentric policies.
His experience as a transportation planning intern with the City of
Portland fosters contact with database resources and
policy-oriented people. These resources will improve the
reliability of the overall project.
Tom Davis believes in ecological forms of organization and
transportation. He is an avid writer, researcher, and presenter of
written, graphic, and verbal information. A student of land use and
community development planning, he brings to the team a different
perspective on transportation issues--how they relate to community
development and equity. Tom does not own a car, and borrows his
roommate's old Volvo for trips to the laundromat.
It is Tom's hope that the cooperative be local and democratic, yet
economically viable. Tom has studied community development
organizations that place service above profit and that recirculate
local capital back into the community. His philosophy for a
cooperative: let it be democratic and local.
A CarShare Ignition Program 7
CarShare Cascadia's PHILOSOPHY
We shall remain true to ourselves, open to one another, and
straight forward to those we serve. Ten core beliefs motivate
CarShare Cascadia. Each helps guide our efforts in creating the Car
Sharing Ignition Program.
1. Opportunity Any person should have affordable, convenient
choices for getting around. Yet real income falls as congestion and
costs climb. Dwindling resources will not fund 1960's era
techno-fixes. CarShare Cascadia believes that opportunity will come
from a cooperative pooling of existing mobility resources, and that
members will enjoy increased overall mobility and choice.
2. Democracy Members of local car sharing organizations should play
an active role in decision making processes. Car sharers showcase
the democratic alternative to bureaucratic or capitalistic
organization, and bridge the gap between efficiency and local
collective decision making. Our project may motivate people to take
collective action for mutual benefit.
3. Cooperation CarShare Cascadia espouses collaboration rather than
competition. Among car co ops, which place service before profit,
a virtual corporation could emerge, providing members access to
mobility options throughout Cascadia. In general, different agents
of mobility--cars, transit, etc.--can fuse into a more accessible
transport system than a kit of competing parts could provide in
sum.
4. Conservation CarShare Cascadia shares with our client the belief
that it is best to walk--and drive- lightly on the earth. For car
sharers, savings and convenience coincide with urban and natural
conservation. When personal and social benefit coincide, one may,
in Benjamin Franklin's words, "expend only that which you need to
do good."
5. Regional Integrity For the sake of regional vitality, personal
and regional transportation decisions should be made with an eye to
their wider societal, economic, and environmental ramifications.
Affordable, flexible, and efficient transportation choices serve
the health and performance of our region--socially, economically,
and environmentally.
A CarShare Ignition Program 8
Our working process will incorporate the following five principles
...
6. Commitment to our client CarShare Cascadia is mobility
consultant and partner in the Car Sharing Ignition Program for
Portland. We share core beliefs with our client, and will relate to
him as a partner, advisor, and fellow instigator in the Ignition
Program. We promise our client a product for use in garnering
support and interest in car cooperatives.
7. Partnership with the community CarShare Cascadia will look for
advice, ideas, and partners in problem solving. We will help
interested members of the community create a network of people and
an action program for car share creation!
8. Education We mean to raise the consciousness of citizens,
organizations, and agencies to a new way of seeing mobility. We
will push forward the concept of the modem, independent individual
who is not .tied to a single type of vehicle. It is important to
transcend the either I or mode of thinking and envision instead
flexible, affordable, convenient, and efficient travel for the
increasingly congested city.
9. Innovation We are excited to trailblaze the socially responsible
mobility consulting and car sharing industries in Portland. We
mean to explore enterprising planning. In the process of creating
the CarShare Ignition Program, we mean to self-search and keep an
accessible, open-minded spirit. We mean to pioneer a creative
revolution in the relationship between the traveler and
transportation, local community, the environment, and the
organization of society.
10. Hope CarShare Cascadia dedicates itself to a worthy and
difficult cause. Many people question whether car cooperatives are
possible in America. Most believe that the cult of the private
automobile holds complete sway. CarShare Cascadia will present an
honest appraisal of the obstacles and opportunities for the
development of car sharing organizations in our region.
A CarShare Ignition Program 9
APPENDIX : The SIX ELEMENTS of a CarShare Ignition Program
1. Effective Communication and Cooperation Objective:
Ensure an efficient, effective, and enjoyable effort that is
inclusive of the working members, open to new ideas, and that
places relationships first.
Tasks: 1. Build a synergistic partnership.
Method: Keep one another informed daily about our work, our ideas,
our problems, our contacts, our plans. Do non-project stuff (e.g ..
soccer, etc.) Responsibility: Tom Davis and Graham Clark will share
responsibility. Product: Smiling faces and a greater likelihood of
a car co-op start-up. Schedule: Ongoing.
2. Consult regularly with the client. Method: Frequent meetings
with client--bi-weekly at the least. Regular contact via e-mail,
phone. Responsibility: Graham Clark will set meetings, keep regular
contact, and keep records. Tom Davis will follow dialogue and
attend meetings. Product: A single record of important messages and
meetings. Schedule: Ongoing, two hours every other week at the very
least. Debriefing session at the end of March.
3. Consult regularly with the advisors. Method: Regular meetings
with Deborah and Connie, bi-weekly at least. Regular contact via
e-mail, phone. Maintain the same contact with both. Responsibility:
TD will be responsible for setting meetings and regular contact.
GSC will follow dialogue and attend meetings. Product: A set of
minutes recording ideas and suggestions. Schedule: Ongoing, one
hour bi-weekly at the very least.
4. Integrate with other Workshop project groups. Method: Relate
projects. Actively listen to other groups. Interact with at least
one group during workshop class times. Write about it.
Responsibility: Full and equal. Product: A journal showing what we
have learned from other groups. Schedule: Ongoing.
5. Improve communication and presentation skills. Method: Prepare
and practice presentations and sales pitches. Explore new
communication media techniques. Improve interpersonal communication
techniques. Responsibility: TD and GSC share equal desire and
responsibility. Product: Effective communication. Schedule:
Ongoing
A CarShare Ignition Program 10
2. A Guide to Car Sharing World-wide Objectives:
Learn the lessons from co-operative transportation efforts around
the world. Create a useful resource guide for others wanting to
learn about car sharing in order to ensure our work's usefulness to
further efforts.
Tasks: 1. Collect. review and abstract all materials relevant to
car sharing
Method: Order and retrieve materials from car sharers. Dialogue
with car sharers. Abstract all information. Create a library.
Responsibility: Shared collection and recording. TD will organize
library and piece together final resource guide format; GSC will
review. Both partners shall do abstracts in polished MS Word 5.1
form. Product: A car sharing information resource guide. Schedule:
Review the bulk of available materials by January 10. Guide
completed mid-March.
2. Portray conditions that contribute to or characterize car
sharing. Method: Analyze the conditions of other cities and the
characteristics of their car coops. Responsibility: GSC will piece
together a final matrix if TD will help. Product: An overview of
characteristics in other car coop cities. Schedule: A presentable
matrix for use by mid-January. Ongoing.
3. Incorporate the materials into a widely and easily accessible
info source. Method: Explore available media options from internet
to libraries. Responsibility: TD will identify and act on options.
GSC will advise. Product: Attractive, accessible network/ guide to
worldwide car sharing. Schedule: Options explored by mid-January;
finished late February.
3. A Survey of Local Conditions Objectives:
Analyze the regional opportunities and constraints for the
formation of a car cooperative. Compare local conditions to regions
where car cooperatives have been successful or have been
attempted.
Tasks: 1. Systematically seek and capture information. advice. and
ideas.
Method: Formal and informal meetings with acquaintances,
professors, professionals--anyone who may have advice or ideas.
Collect ideas in a central document categorized along lines of our
matrix. Review and respond to ideas. Responsibility: GSC will lead
and coordinate with his helper TD. Product: A public listing of
ideas: written and on interactive media. Schedule: Ideas list
ongoing. Incorporated on matrix mid-January.
A CarShare Ignition Program 11
2. Identify and compare transportation alternatives in Portland.
Method: Research and interviews . Responsibility: GSC will set up
interviews and research. TD will help. Product: A comparative
analysis of alternatives: document with matrix. Schedule:
Interviews in Jan. and Feb. Report by mid-February.
3. Study and compare the experience of alternative organizations in
Portland. Method: Interviews with co-operative leaders; research on
co-ops. Responsibility: TD will set up interviews and research. GSC
will help. Product: A report on the history of local co-ops and a
matrix of organizational strengths of alternatives for comparison
to car co-ops. Schedule: Interviews in Jan. and Feb. Report by
mid-February.
4. Analyze Portland characteristics and compare them to car co-op
cities. Method: Statistically analyze the social, economic, and
physical conditions using the results of Element 2. Responsibility:
GSC will compare conditions. TD will do analysis. Product: Local
conditions analysis that incorporates Tasks 2 and 3. Schedule:
Completed and compiled during the third week of February.
4. A Network of Car Sharers Objective:
Mobilize a network of people who are interested in car sharing.
Tasks:
1. Identify. contact. and survey likely car sharers. Method: A list
of potential active and inactive members. Formal and informal
snowball style interviews with questions on needs and desires.
Thank yous and continued information for participants. Ask for
ideas, advice, concerns. Responsibility: GSC will be lead
interviewer. TD will help & keep roster. Product: An expanding,
documented circle of contacts. Schedule: Ongoing.
2. Create a common information. discussion and networking forum.
Method: Create and maintain a web site, home pages, and internet
groups. Responsibility: TD will create the sites in collaboration
with GSC. Product: An active home page and news group for car
sharing lovers. Schedule: Activated January 12. Ongoing use and
maintenance.
A CarShare Ignition Program 12
3. Engage interested individuals in a proposal for start-up action.
Method: Weekly discussions and updates with core group of
interested car share advocates, accomplished through electronic
mail and telephone. Responsibility: GSC and TD will maintain
updates and contacts. Product: Record of discussions along with
other notes and minutes. Schedule: Three hours weekly, with a
finish date of March 20, and invitations mailed for debriefing
session
4. Foster a core ignition group. Method: Through the above
contacts, identify a core group of dedicated people who are likely
to push the car coop forward. Put them in contact with each other.
Responsibility: GSC and TD will foster the group. Product: A
proto-ignition group. Schedule: A group set during March.
5. A Start-up Action Guide Objectives:
Draw a realistic route map toward the creation of a car sharing
organization. Assess the level of responsibility and commitment
that a start-up will take.
Tasks: 1. Create an ignition action plan for a car
cooperative.
Method: Fuse the first four Elements into a comprehensive document
that addresses the key issues while not being intimidating to the
user. Responsibility: TD will lead and GSC will back up. Product: A
comprehensive document, the Start Up Action Guide. Schedule: Draft
prepared by early March; final by March 20.
2. Engage interested people as client-partners in the plan. Method:
Discuss the elements of a start up plan, seeking input and ideas.
Distribute the Start Up Action Guide to our network of supporters.
Responsibility: Equal. Product: A sense of ownership among the
network of supporters. Schedule: Ongoing.
A CarShare Ignition Program 13
6. Effective Presentation Objective:
Present an exciting, realistic, and trailblazing extension of
today's options for mobility. Garner awareness, interest, and
support from the community.
Tasks : 1. Incorporate the elements into a medium that attracts
support.
Method: Organize the information as a promotional advertisement.
Unify and relate all the products into a format that is at once
both rich and accessible. Responsibility: TD will create a product
with help of GSC. Product: An enticing portrayal of the car sharing
program, including sign up materials. Schedule: Compiled by March
15.
2. Engage Workshop class and others in several workshop sessions.
Method: Facilitate interactive class sessions and/or trips.
Responsibility: Full and equal. Product: Greater knowledge and
enthusiasm among the participants. Schedule: Ongoing. Session dates
to be announced.
3. Present the CarShare Ignition Program to the client, to the
workshop. to potential allies and sources of support and to
interested car share advocates. Approach potential allies and
supporters with the idea.
Method: Presentations using various media; meetings, interviews.
Responsibility: GSC will sell the product with help of TD. Product:
Greater support for a car cooperative. Schedule: Polished formal
presentations and informal meetings between February 15 and March
15.
A CarShare Ignition Program 14